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Blackpool Transport
| service_type = Tramway, urban and interurban bus services, school bus | destinations = Fleetwood, Lytham St Annes, Kirkham, Knott End, Poulton-le-Fylde | fleet = 170 buses, 75 trams | operator = Blackpool Transport Services Ltd | leader_type = Managing director | leader = Trevor Roberts | website = Official Website }} Blackpool Transport Services (BTS) is a bus and tram operator running within the boroughs of Blackpool and Fylde and into the surrounding area, including Fleetwood, Lytham St Annes, Poulton-le-Fylde and Kirkham, Preston. BTS is a limited company wholly owned by Blackpool Borough Council, which makes it one of the few remaining municipal bus companies in the UK today. History Blackpool Transport was founded in 1885 by the town council. It became an arm's length company in 1986. Neighbouring operator Fylde Borough Transport, which at the time traded as Blue Buses, was taken over in 1994; it had previously been a council-owned operation itself, but spent five months in private ownership before Blackpool Transport's takeover. The company's network was relaunched in April 2001 under the name Metro Coastlines. Along with the new name came a new colour-coded service: each core bus route was operated by vehicles painted in a livery heavily featuring that route's colour. There were twelve such core bus routes, and the historic tramway along the promenade also had its own variation of the livery. On Monday 26 July 2010, Metro Coastlines branding was discontinued and the company went back to the older name of 'Blackpool Transport'. Buses have had their Metro Coastlines logos removed and replaced with a new Tower and waves logo, along with a black and yellow colour scheme. The tramway now uses a purple and white colour scheme, based on Blackpool Council's main colour schemes. The Tower and waves logo does not feature on the trams. Bus types Blackpool Transport currently has a fleet of 147 vehicles as of January 2013. The fleet is primarily double deck. The mainstay of the Blackpool Transport fleet is the Dennis/TransBus Trident with 51 buses of this type currently in service. In the single deck fleet the standard vehicle is the Optare Solo midibus with around forty examples in service. Also operated are seventeen Optare Excels and fourteen Plaxton bodied Volvo B7RLEs - the second batch of which are the newest vehicles in the fleet. In terms of double deckers the fleet there are over fifty Dennis/TransBus Tridents with East Lancs bodywork. Also in service are an increasing number of ex Bus Vannin DAF DB250s also with East Lancs bodywork. There are also six Volvo Olympians still in service which along with four open top Leyland Olympians are the only step entry vehicles in the fleet. The Leyland Atlantean class was made up of 106 double-deck buses built in 1965-1984. They were numbered 301-364, 441-445, 449-459, 465-475, 478-479, 481-483, 486-493 and 495-496. Atlantean buses 451-454 and 457 were partially open-topped types. Atlantean bus 364 was renumbered 47 in the Fylde Blue Buses fleet in 1995, then 447 in the Blackpool Transport fleet in 1996 and then became 364 again in 1997. It was then renumbered 864 in 2017. Atlantean bus 450 was renumbered 480 in 1997. Leyland Atlantean buses 334, 353, 362, 444, 445, 458, 471, 479, 496 and 864 are preserved. Buses 330, 356, 452, 453, 467, 468, 474 and 478 are not preserved but are in private ownership. Bus 350 is owned by Blackpool Council for Permanent Way use. Bus 322 was preserved but its current condition is unknown. Buses 331, 337, 343, 451 and 454 were preserved but were later scrapped. The Leyland Single-Deck Atlantean class was made up of 4 single-deck buses built in 1971. They were originally used in Bradford as numbers 262, 266-267 and 269 and were then used in Hull as numbers 462, 466-467 and 469. They were then acquired by Fylde Blue Buses in 1993 and renumbered 4-7. They were then acquired by Blackpool Transport in 1996 and were renumbered 134-137. Leyland Atlantean single-deck bus 137 is preserved. The Leyland National class was made up of 19 single decker buses built in 1979-84. They were numbered 156, 158, 161-162, 164-167, 170, 172, 174 and 541-548. The first Leyland National buses, 541-548, were renumbered 141-148 in 1988 to match the range of the later Leyland National buses and due to minibuses having taken over the single-deck numbering series at the point of time. Leyland National buses 543 and 546 are preserved. Buses 156 and 542 were preserved but were later scrapped. The Olympian class was made up of 39 double-deck buses built in 1982-1994 by Leyland and Volvo. They were numbered 213, 365-379, 401-417, 818, 844, 849, 857-858 and 873. Olympian buses 213 (later renumbered 813), 818, 844, 849 and 858 were partially open-topped types whilst 857 and 873 were fully open-topped types. Many of the Leyland Olympians were even transferred from Singapore since the withdrawal between 2004 and 2007. Olympian buses 374, 377, 401 and 411 (as Singapore L263) were preserved. Buses 375, 844 and 849 survive. Bus 857 has been retained by Blackpool Transport. The Optare Excel class was made up of 17 single decker buses built in 1999. They were numbered 210-226. Optare Excel 225 and 226 were preserved. The Dennis Trident 2 is made up of 70 double decker buses being built since 2000. They are numbered 301-372 (except 320, 321). 333-337, 342 and 347-352 were sold. Trident buses 301-302, 305-317, 319, 322-332, 338-341, 343-346 and 353-372 remain in the Blackpool Transport fleet. 303, 304, 318 were sold for scrap. The Optare Solo is made up of 58 single decker buses built between 1999 and 2009. They are numbered 240-297. Optare Solo buses 240-248, 257, 286-292 and 294-297 remain in the Blackpool Transport fleet. Buses 249-256, 258, 260, 267, 269, 271-274, 276, 281-282 and 284-285 were sold and survive. The Volvo B7RLE class is made up of 14 single-deck buses built in 2010. They are numbered 520-533. The Mercedes-Benz O530 Citaro is made up of 10 single-decker buses built in 2015, numbered 550-559. The Alexander Dennis Enviro400 City class is made up of 55 double-deck buses built in 2016-2018, numbered 401-459. Fares Fares on Blackpool Transport depend on the distance travelled, although there is a cap per journey. Most tickets can be purchased from the driver of the first bus boarded, or on trams from the conductor. Holders of an ENCTS bus pass may travel free on buses and trams (excluding Heritage Trams). Children under five also travel free. Drivers and conductors may also be able to give change in small denominations. One day TravelCards can be purchased on any bus or tram, and longer term TravelCards can be purchased at offices and agents. Bus routes and branding Between 1933 and 2001, the fleet livery on the buses was green and cream, with different arrangements of the two colours decade after decade. From 2010 this livery was replaced with new black and yellow livery which replaced all of the route-specific liveries during 2001-2010. Prior to the livery change each bus stop also featured the line colour and timetables were also colour-coded. Route branding was discontinued in July 2010 when Blackpool Transport introduced major changes to its bus network, replaced by a new livery of black and yellow. The Line 6 service was axed in July 2010 after 84 years. Line 2 was axed in March 2015, with service 12/13 replacing parts of its route to Poulton via Staining. The 12/13 were axed a year later due to the withdrawal of LCC funding. Since 2002 local bus services have not used the 1960s bus station located on Talbot Road. The town centre Blackpool Transport offices were relocated to Market Street. With the new service changes, many services now serve different town centre stops. Service 1 stops at North Pier and Blackpool Tower in both directions. Services 2 and 2C terminate at Corporation Street Stop C1, with service 11 also serving this stop. Services 5, 7, 9 and 14 call at both Market Street and Corporation Street. Service 10 still terminates at Market Street. Services 3, 4 now operate via Topping Street (northbound) and Clifton Street (southbound), Service 16 also operates via Topping Street and now terminates at Blackpool North Station, Service 17 terminates at Market Street and Service 20 also stops at Market Street. All routes terminate or pass through Blackpool town centre, stopping at either Market Street, Corporation Street or Abingdon Street bus stops. Palladium In 2015 Blackpool Transport unveiled a new premium brand, Palladium, on its bus network. All vehicles with Palladium specification are fitted with Wi-Fi, e-leather seating, wood effect flooring and a grey and yellow livery. The first route to be upgraded was the 5, which received a batch of brand new Mercedes-Benz Citaros. The 9 were upgraded in 2016, with the latter receiving a batch of brand new Alexander Dennis Enviro400Citys. Other routes which have been upgraded to Palladium standard are services 6 and 14, with a mix of refurbished and brand new high specification vehicles. See also * List of bus operators of the United Kingdom External links * Official website * Extensive photo collection (1) * Extensive photo collection (2) Category:Tram transport in England Category:Bus operators in England Category:Transport in Lancashire Category:Transport in Blackpool Category:Companies based in Blackpool Category:Companies owned by municipalities of England